When I think back on my favorite teachers, I realize they all share one trait in common – they listen. Summer Institute featured lecturer Cathy Cohen has made listening a radical methodology for studying sexual attitudes and behaviors, so know doubt she will be a great teacher who you won’t want to miss this summer at the Summer Institute on Race, Gender, and Sexuality! 
Dr. Cohen is perhaps most famous for her books The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics and Women Transforming Politics: An Alternative Reader, but her research illustrates that she will be an excellent teacher because she listens, and most importantly she listens to youth and young adults of color.
Dissatisfied with popular perceptions of Black youth and concerned by they way those perceptions were employed in outreach programs, Dr. Cohen tried something radical. She started the Black Youth Project and set out to listen to young adults, allowing them to express their own opinions. She wanted to understand young adults’ attitudes, their experiences, and learn how they understand the world around them. By asking youtn of multiple racial identities about their beliefs she shattered myths about Black youth and empowered young adult voices to drown out the stereotypes.
